Memphis Roar

Last week, as first reported by Alex Schwartz of Northstar Basketball, Noel Johnson (rated as the nation’s No. 30 player by ESPN)) asked for and received his release from the University of Southern California. The Georgia native with a smooth stroke from deep decided to bolt when all of the mess surrounding Tim Floyd and O.J. Mayo hit the fan. Reports following his release said that teams such as Georgia Tech, LSU, UNLV and UCONN would have the best shot of landing Johnson.

Johnson graduated from high school Friday, so he’s available to conclude his recruiting process relatively quickly, which is evidenced by a visit to UNC-Charlotte on Monday and Tuesday of this week and an upcoming visit to UNLV this weekend. His high school coach, Andre Flynn of Fayette County High, said Tuesday that he hasn’t talked to him in a week.

The connection to UNLV for Johnson is between his father, Lynbert “Cheese” Johnson, and Rebels assistant Lew Hill. The elder Johnson and Hill are longtime friends, both attending and playing for Wichita State. Johnson played for the Shockers from 1976-79, while Hill played from 1985-88.

The assumption by some has been that Johnson is to wind up picking between two schools, Georgia Tech and LSU. Most assume that Georgia Tech is the favorite to pull Johnson in; however, at present there is currently no room for Johnson on the Yellow Jackets’ roster. Georgia Tech forward Gani Lawal, who averaged 15.1 points and 9.5 rebounds a game, is now talking about withdrawing from the NBA Draft and coming back to school – and with a six-man signing class in place already including wings Kammeron Holsey, Glen Rice and Brian Oliver, and the current official 2009-10 roster from Georgia Tech’s official site has no less than nineteen players on it. In order to pull off a roster makeover miracle like that, Georgia Tech would have to be renamed University of Kentucky-Atlanta.

LSU has a shot at him for three reasons:

1) Head coach Trent Johnson’s relationship with USC head coach Tim Floyd- reportedly, Floyd is giving Johnson a strong recommendation to LSU.

2) Johnson’s relationship with Chris Jackson- Johnson has a good relationship with several current and former NBA players including former Tiger Chris Jackson, now known as Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Abdul-Rauf has worked with Johnson on his outside stroke and shooting off the dribble and has also surprisingly made recommendations to Johnson that he consider LSU.

3) Johnson’s relationship with current/former LSU players- He was an AAU teammate of two members of last year’s LSU team, Dennis Harris and Delwan Graham – and while Graham is no longer on the LSU roster Harris is, and Johnson and Harris are good friends.

Returning from his visit from Charlotte yesterday, Johnson said there are still other schools he’s considering and that he hopes to have a decision made within the next three weeks.

“I like to play on the perimeter,” Johnson said. “I’m trying to play a lot of minutes right away, go somewhere where I can contribute.”

He did not give a list, but MemphisRoar continues to hear that Memphis is involved with Johnson. Whether the news of the NCAA allegations or the signing of Martin Ngaloro will have any effect on Memphis’ involvement is not something that we have been able to determine. Stayed tuned as we try to bring you more on the latest in Noel’s recruitment.